Evans hangs up hat as public servant for City of Monroe

Saturday

Dec 28, 2013 at 12:01 AMDec 28, 2013 at 9:00 AM

Charles Evans said he recently was told he is the only elected clerk/treasurer in the State of Michigan. Now after 43 years of working for the City of Monroe, he says he is content to walk off into the sunset.

Jeff Meade

Charles Evans said he recently was told he is the only elected clerk/treasurer in the State of Michigan. Now after 43 years of working for the City of Monroe, he says he is content to walk off into the sunset.

Mr. Evans, 70, is retiring as clerk/treasurer at the end of this month after 16 years on the job. He faced opposition on the ballot only once and usually was the top vote-get­ter in city elections. He previously worked 27 years for the Monroe Fire Department, including 10 as fire marshal.

He ran unsuccessfully for mayor in November ? losing to incumbent Mayor Robert E. Clark ? but Mr. Evans said he al­ready had made the decision to step down as clerk/treasurer.

?Actually I was relieved (by the loss),? he said. ?The basic reason why I wanted to run for mayor was to try to undo the public safety officer procedure, which I think doesn?t work anywhere. I reluctantly ran. I was content to just walk off into the sunset, so to speak. I don?t think my heart was in it.?

Mr. Evans tried retirement 18 years earlier and didn?t like it. The 1961 Monroe High School graduate retired from the fire de­partment in 1995.

?I worked about two years helping my brother and brother-in-law establish a busi­ness,? he recalled. ? They didn?t really need me anymore, so I came home and played golf four days a week. I needed something to do.?

Elizabeth Dickey announced she would not seek another term as clerk/treasurer in 1997. Mr. Evans filed and no one ran against him.

The only time he ever faced opposition was in 2009 when Kathleen Powers cam­paigned on a platform of eliminating the clerk/treasurer position. Mr. Evans won re-election that time with more than 70 per­cent of the vote.

When he first took office in January, 1998, Mr. Evans said he was ?as green as they come, although I knew how the city oper­ated because I?d been in city government.?

He worked to obtain national and state certification from the Professional Clerks Institute and the Michigan Municipal Trea­surers Association, a process that required him to travel all over the state to attend classes and seminars. Both certifications re­quired three years of classes and five years of experience in the job.

?I felt it was my responsibility to the people who elected me to the job,? he said.

The clerk/treasurer?s office is responsible for sending out tax and other bills, main­taining city records, keeping and publish­ing minutes of city meetings and running elections.

? The most difficult are the elections because I have another 40 workers at the elections,? Mr. Evans said. ?All my workers at the polls have to be trained and certified every two years. It?s a daunting task. We have seven precincts and we?ve had very few issues at election time. We have a crew of people who get locked into a confer­ence room on Election Day at 10 o?clock in the morning with no phones and no cell phones and they don?t come out until nearly 12 hours later.?

The city faced a potential crisis this sum­mer when a new state election law conflict­ed with the Monroe City Charter regarding the deadline for validating candidate nomi­nating petitions. Until a circuit court ruling decided otherwise, the city was faced with the prospect of conducting an all-write-in election.

?That was one of the most considerable things I had to face,? Mr. Evans said. ?If that (ruling) hadn?t happened, all of our ballots would have been blank when we sent them out. I thought it was great that we prevailed in that case.?

Another issue came up three years ago when city voters rejected charter amend­ments that would have changed the clerk/ treasurer from an elected to an appointed position.

?The voters opposed that by a great margin,? Mr. Evans said. ?I think they pretty much told the city fathers that they really don?t want that. I?m sure that is something that will come up again if it isn?t addressed in the state Legislature.?

He said he takes his role as public servant literally.

?I work for the people,? he said. ?If some­one comes in here and wants a copy of an ordinance or minutes of a prior meeting, I?m not going to charge you for it. I?m here working for you.?

Mr. Evans appreciates that the clerk/ treasurer is an elected, independent official who answers only to the citizens, although city council does control his budget.

?I?m not controllable. I don?t work for the mayor or city manager,? he said. ?I tell them, ?I don?t work for you, but I will cer­tainly work with you.? ?I?ve always had a spirit of cooperation to work with anyone. I just don?t want to be told to do anything because I don?t work for them, which I believe is absolutely essential in the election process.?

But despite his reservations, Mr. Evans said he ultimately did not fight city officials? desire to have residents begin paying city tax, water and other bills at the Monroe County Community Credit Union in the city hall beginning this year.

? When it was brought to my attention, I told the powers that be, ? You know, I?m tired. I?m too old to fight you anymore,? so I did not oppose it actually. I just stood mute on the whole process.?

For the last few elections, Mr. Evans wait­ed until the last minute to decide whether to seek another two-year term.

?I wanted to leave after 10 years on the job,? he said. ?I kept staying around I think mainly for my staff, to look after my staff. It was a time of turmoil in city government. It seems like we?ve been targets of a lot of the turmoil.?

His staff includes Deputy Clerk Sharon Malotky, Deputy Treasurer Sheri Hudson, elections specialist Rosalind Boswell and former deputy clerk Loretta Hopson, who frequently returns when the department is shorthanded. All have worked for the city since at least the 1980s.

? We hate to see him go. He?s a wonderful boss,? Mrs. Hudson said. ? We will certainly miss him. He was part of our family.?

Mr. Evans adds, ?I?ll miss mostly the people. I?ll miss the citizens who stop by to say hi. I?m really going to miss my staff. The girls who work for me, they?re like my family now.?

He will sit in his customary seat record­ing the minutes when the old city council meets for the last time Jan. 6 and approves bills. Then he will step down, the new council will be sworn in and Michelle LaVoy ? who won a four-way race in November ? will take over as clerk/treasurer.

?Michelle is a very nice lady,? Mr. Evans said. ?I like her. She?s really educated. She?s smart. With her personality, I think she?ll do very well here.?

Mr. Evans and Doris, his wife of 51 years, have two children, Todd and Tracy, and two grandchildren.

?I?ve been working since I was 14 when I took a job as Castel?s Market on the east side, then I spent three years in the Army,? he said. ?Monroe is a community of good people. There?s good educational opportu­nities for the children. It?s home.

?It?s been a great career for me. I?ve thor­oughly enjoyed it. I always enjoyed people. This is a people business. I?m sure I?ll miss it. I can?t see me sitting on my butt the rest of my life doing nothing. I?m sure I?ll find something to keep me busy.?

? I work for the people. If someone comes in here and wants a copy of an ordinance or minutes of a prior meeting, I?m not going to charge you for it. I?m working for you.?

Never miss a story

Choose the plan that's right for you.
Digital access or digital and print delivery.